The longer I have been following Christ, the more I have noticed that our culture has effected the beliefs of Christians and non-believers alike in regard to the Scripture and facts. Think about it, how many times have you heard, “Well, the Bible says . . . ” and later find out that the statement is not true. One of the most well-known examples for my generation is “The Bible says God helps those who help themselves.” But I when I try to find it, I can’t.
One of the most culture distorted expectations floating around is that hell is a party place ruled by the devil. This depiction is encouraged by cartoons and memes of satan assigning people to places of torment just for fun. I’ve got a head’s up for us: hell is satan’s punishment, not his kingdom. In Matthew 25:41 Jesus teaches us that “the eternal fire . . . has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” A few verses later, in Matthew 25:46, He calls it “eternal punishment”. No ruler can be forced into torment in that place, if he is truly a ruler. But satan is not the ruler of hell. He and any other being there will be trapped. If he were a ruler, he’d leave because he’d have the freedom to do so. But when he is placed there for his eternal punishment, he will be sent there and kept there by the true Authority – God Almighty.
The notion of hell as being a party for those who enjoyed being “bad” here on earth is perpetuated by popular figures and rebels who don’t want to face the facts. In Luke 16, we have the story Jesus told about an unnamed “rich man” and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man lived a lavish lifestyle of ease and pleasure. He had fancy clothes and plenty of food, while poor and sickly Lazarus wished he could have the crumbs which fell from this man’s table as he lay at this man’s gate trying to keep the strays from coming to lick the sores he had on his body. Quite the contrast in lifestyles, isn’t it?
The contrast doesn’t end there. As different as their lives were, their after-lives were even farther apart. Lazarus, although poor, sick and neglected here on earth, was carried to “Abraham’s bosom” by the angels when he died. The rich man died and was buried and lifted up his eyes in Hades and saw Lazarus and Abraham far away from him. He cried out and begged Abraham to have mercy on him and asked him to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and bring it to cool off his tongue because of the agony he was experiencing in the flames. But the time of mercy had passed for the rich man. He had received good things in his life (which he did not share use to try to alleviate the misery of others), but he had neglected to be sure that he had the best thing life can give us, a right relationship with God. Abraham told him, you have had good things and now it is Lazarus turn for reward. Abraham said, “Besides . . .between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.” After that, the rich man begged Abraham to send someone to his father’s house to warn his five brothers, lest they also come to the place of torment. Abraham’s reply seems rather cold, ”They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.” But the rich man knows they are unlikely to respond to the words written, after all, he didn’t listen. So, he begs Abraham to send someone from the dead to try to convince them. However, Abraham knows the bent of rebellious hearts. He replies that if they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone should come to them from the dead.
A wealthy man accustomed to parties is speaking in this account in Luke. He does not appear before us in the flesh, but his story is one we should note. He did not find a party in hell. He found torment and agony and no relief no matter how much he begged. His agony even caused him to think of his relatives, but he couldn’t warn them. He wasn’t looking forward to having them join him, he was hoping to help them avoid the misery.
The question we have to answer is, how does this apply to us? Well, first we must consider our eternal destination. The focus in the account from Luke is on the suffering rich man, but what about poor Lazarus? Well, he didn’t arrive at a place of comfort because he had been deprived in his life on earth to the point that God decided he’d suffered enough. He was taken to heaven because he honored God, he sought him and found him, even in his misery. And his reward is eternal. It is a reward available to all who call upon His name, according to Romans 10:13. So the first thing to get sorted is whether or not we have called upon His name. Are we trusting Him for forgiveness of our sins and for salvation?
The next thing to consider is what we can do to help people understand the reality and the eternality of hell? We can speak the truth. We can memorize Scriptures that give an accurate picture of the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-24, Matthew 13:42). We need to remember the agony and the begging of souls in torment who WANT their loved ones to know what they’re heading for before it is too late for them to change their minds. The rich man obviously cared about his brothers, but he didn’t want them to come to the place where he was suffering. We need to have the boldness and compassion to speak the truth.
We need to pray for people whom we know are not following the King of Glory. We know their end; they do not. But we also know that “the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16). We know that God Himself is the promised reward for those who seek Him with their whole hearts (Jeremiah 29:13). We can pray earnestly for God to draw people to Himself and to the Truth, that the eyes of their hearts will be opened, so that they may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance and the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19). Scriptural prayer is powerful prayer.
And, as insignificant as it may seem, we can help by not spreading memes and cartoons that perpetuate the myth as if hell as a joke, a place where it is funny that everyone is given an accordion to play so that they torment one another. Or any other such thing that reinforces inaccurate ideas. If we will learn truth, speak truth, pray truth and live truth, we can do much in counteracting myths and lies.
But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations . . . 2 Timothy 2:23